Gathering principles for Aikido

The term morote dorirefers to a traditional attack form whereby the uke grabs the nage’s wrists with 2 hands. Responses to a morote dori attack are practised in our school both from a static position under resistance and also in free flowing form.

In the below video Takeda Satoshi Shihan (7th Dan AKI/Aiki Kai, Kamakura BudoKan) uses both static and free flowing forms of morote dori to explain the Aiki principle of “gathering an attack”. Sensei explains how to use this principle to take the uke off balance and then project the uke with a kokyu intent.

Associated Aiki principals also referred to in Sensei’s instruction include:

relaxed posture,

centre line,

moving as a single unit and

focussing on the entirety of the uke rather than the point of contact.

The video was recorded as part of special class given by Satoshi Sensei at our dojo on 25 November 2017.